GAME REPORT

Mondeville's Naignouma Coulibaly made nine of 12 field goal attempts on her way to 21 points

There was joy and despair on opening night in Poland as USO Mondeville claimed a memorable and exciting 86-82 overtime victory at CCC Polkowice to deliver an early blow to the play-off hopes of the ambitious Polish club.

Even after a mere forty minutes of the new campaign, this defeat could yet prove to be the one which returns to haunt CCC Polkowice because of the fiercely competitive nature and quality of Group C.

It was a wonderfully intense affair, and whilst a stomach churning outcome for the CCC Polkowice faithful, this will be an immeasurable tonic for the visitors who could use this excellent result as a springboard for the rest of the campaign.

The French team held the upper hand in the first quarter, 27-21, but CCC Polkowice came storming back to take the lead 46-45 at the half.

USO Mondeville then went back ahead and opened up some daylight at 59-52 but the hosts worked their way back into things.

The end of regulation witnessed both teams struggling to score, but it was CCC Polkowice who suffered most, failing to add a single point to their tally in the last four minutes to hand USO Mondeville their opportunity.

As the home offence continued to misfire in overtime, the visitors just did enough to prevail with Naignouma Coulibay outstanding and finishing with 21 points and six rebounds, whilst veteran duo Ammanda Lassiter and Kristen Sharp also excelled, combining for 35 points.

The one bright spot for CCC Polkowice was the highly rated Nnemkadi Ogwumike scoring 21 points on her EuroLeague Women debut.

COACH QUOTES

USO Mondeville head coach Herve Coudray:"I'm happy that we won. I knew it would be a tough game. We played hard defense. In the end we changed our defense and Polkowice had no time for adapting to the defense. This was a good idea from my team. The game was very physical."

USO Mondeville player Kristen Sharp:"For us, this victory is very important because in the French league it is not going well for us. I hope that now we will play better also in the French league."

CCC Polkowice head coach Jacek Winnicki:"It was a very important game. We knew it would be very difficult. In the end we tried a variety of ways to earn points, but did not succeed. This is sport, this is basketball. It is a pity that we lost, because there was a chance to win today. Now we have to focus on doing better in the next matches.

CCC Polkowice Laia Palau:"When we got the lead, it seemed that we would win. Maybe we are not ready for that, to win the matches. It was a very important game for us because we have a tough group and this match could have importance in the further competition. We made a lot of mistakes. We have to play better to win in the EuroLeague Women."

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COACH QUOTES

USO Mondeville head coach Herve Coudray:"I'm happy that we won. I knew it would be a tough game. We played hard defense. In the end we changed our defense and Polkowice had no time for adapting to the defense. This was a good idea from my team. The game was very physical."

USO Mondeville player Kristen Sharp:"For us, this victory is very important because in the French league it is not going well for us. I hope that now we will play better also in the French league."

CCC Polkowice head coach Jacek Winnicki:"It was a very important game. We knew it would be very difficult. In the end we tried a variety of ways to earn points, but did not succeed. This is sport, this is basketball. It is a pity that we lost, because there was a chance to win today. Now we have to focus on doing better in the next matches.

CCC Polkowice Laia Palau:"When we got the lead, it seemed that we would win. Maybe we are not ready for that, to win the matches. It was a very important game for us because we have a tough group and this match could have importance in the further competition. We made a lot of mistakes. We have to play better to win in the EuroLeague Women."